238 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
to tourists, and weave baskets. Their lack of pro- 
gress is not due to want of natural gifts we were told 
at the school. They can, if they would, but they are 
utterly wanting in the first great incentive to work, 
a love of acquisition. The negro soon develops a 
desire to possess things, the Cherokee never. Per- 
haps he is the true philosopher, and seeing too far 
ahead asks, "What is the use?" 
The Indian Country lies in a cul-de-sac between 
the Balsams and the Smokies, two of the grandest 
ranges in the Appalachians, and through it flows 
the Oconolufty River, swift, broad, and clear as 
crystal, its bed strewn with boulders, large trees 
guarding its banks, and rhododendrons dipping to 
the water. This romantic stream being too swift for 
a " bench " is spanned by air-line bridges, the thought 
of crossing which chills the blood. In its calmer 
reaches, one sees the long dugout canoes of the Indi- 
ans tied to the trees along the bank, or perchance an 
Indian girl crossing the river standing securely at 
the bow of the craft and paddling against the cur- 
rent. 
